MATTER AND BEYOND - Ebru.TV - slated to air on New Jersey Network NJN June 2009

CONSCIOUSNESS

Special thanks to MaryLynn Schiavi, Executive Producer for bringing the EbruTV crew to Tucson during the Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference (TSC) hosted by the Center for Consciousness Studies, University of Arizona, April 2008, held at the Tucson Convention Center.

What shapes our consciousness and what transforms our consciousness? We’ve all heard about people who appear to have completely changed their perspective or worldview – sometimes over a short period of time, and sometimes seemingly overnight. What inspires this kind of radical change in perception and behavior? In this program we’ll hear from: Dr. Charles Whitehead, Ph.D., and David Craik who have explored how our social rituals develop, enhance, and often determine our consciousness. Whitehead and Craik view the use of our imagination and play as a key contributor to shaping our consciousness. We’ll also hear from two of the three authors of Living Deeply: The Art & Science of Transformation in Everyday Life, Dr. Marilyn Schlitz Ph.D, a cultural anthropologist, clinical research scientist, and vice president for research and education for the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Dr. Cassandra Vieten, PhD., a licensed clinical psychologist, a research psychologist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, co-director of the Mind Body Medicine Research Group at California Pacific Medical Center and vice president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology.

Where does consciousness emanate from? How much can we learn about consciousness from studying the brain? And how much can we know about the experience of another? Are we using the right language and categories to understand consciousness? And how do we explain intuition? In this edition of Matter and Beyond, we’ll hear from scholars Dr. Paula Droege about the sensory aspects of consciousness. Dr. Norbert Samuleson, an internationally renowned Jewish scholar, explores whether we have put consciousness in the right category. The phrase “mind over matter” – generally suggests that the power of our thoughts can control circumstances or people around us. It also suggests that the mind is not matter but rather something else. Keya Maitra, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina explains that in some spiritual traditions consciousness is viewed as matter. And Dr. Sheldrake is one of the world’s most innovative biologists and the author of the book "Dogs that Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home". He explores the phenomenon of intuition and telepathy.

Considered to be truly the final frontier, why is human consciousness so difficult for us to understand? Why is the source of consciousness so difficult for us to identify? Has our understanding of consciousness deepened since we have employed new techniques and technologies to explore the human brain? In this program we are joined by some of the most fascinating thinkers today who are probing the mysteries of consciousness. We’ll hear from: Dr. Christof Koch, Ph.D., a neurobiologist and author of Quest for Consciousness: a neurobiological approach; Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.d., a biologist and former director of studies in biochemistry and cell biology at Cambridge University and author of: Seven Experiments That Could Change the World and Why Some Dogs Know When their Owners Are Coming Home.